5 NFL teams who got screwed in 2024 after schedule release feat. Giants in Germany
The full schedule for the upcoming 2024 NFL season was officially released on Wednesday. While every team already knew who all of their opponents would be this year as soon as the previous season concluded, they now also know when and where all of those games will be played.
Travel schedules and the timing of each matchup can play a major role in how a season plays out for any team. This has become even more of a factor with all of the international games and contests being played on different days of the week. Taking all of this into consideration, here are five teams that received a rough situation from the schedule release.
Teams with challenging situations after the 2024 NFL schedule release
#1: New York Jets
The New York Jets will run it back on Monday Night Football in Week 1, just like they did last year. This will give Aaron Rodgers a chance at redemption, but it will come against one of the most challenging opponents on the road, the San Francisco 49ers.
They also travel to participate in NFL London three weeks later but don't get a bye week immediately following it and will instead have an important division rivalry game against the Buffalo Bills.
#2: Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs have a brutal stretch late in the 2024 NFL season, which includes multiple short weeks and games on odd days of the week.
This includes a Black Friday game against the Las Vegas Raiders and a Christmas Day game on Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Each game is preceded by shorter rest than a typical NFL week.
#3: New York Giants
A trip to Munich for another NFL game in Germany right in the middle of the 2024 NFL season could present a challenge for the New York Giants.
The bigger issue than the travel itself is one of the most difficult schedules of any team for the remainder of the year after returning. They finish their season with seven consecutive opponents that either made the playoffs last year or missed out by just one game.
#4: Los Angeles Chargers
If travel plays a major factor in overall performances on the football field, then the Los Angeles Chargers have an alarming scenario in their first year with Jim Harbaugh as their head coach.
According to CBS Sports, they lead all teams this year in projected travel mileage and total time zones crossed. They are the only team expected to travel more than 26,000 miles and will do so crossing 36 time zones.
#5: San Francisco 49ers
According to Sports Illustrated, the San Francisco 49ers will play the most games against teams that are coming directly off of their bye weeks. Making things even worse is that those four teams are the Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks.
The 49ers are also one of only 13 teams that will play multiple games on a minimum of four days of rest.